No abstract

etween 1990 and 1993, the senior occupational health nurse at a large petrochemical refining site and the site chief physician collaborated to develop a program to identify management of non-occupational injury and illness as a clinical service. The goals included optimum health care for the employee while effecting an early return to work to enhance the employee's rehabilitation process. As a direct result of attaining these goals, the disability management program demonstrated a successful business outcome by reducing sickness and disability costs. This article discusses a successful program approach focusing on business process and methodology. These parameters are used to link resources to strategy to develop a product for implementing and managing a program demonstrating economic value added through effective medical case management.

This time, like all time, is a good time if we just know what to do with it." Ralph Waldo Emerson M any situations require the combined professional expertise of an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Occupational Health Services to provide optimum client care. Helping refinery employees deal with the physical and psychological trauma of a workplace fatality is only one example in the authors' work experience.This article describes the 10 year successful partnering effort between EAP personnel and an occupational health service in a refinery workplace. Discussion focuses on selected aspects of the collaborative effort, including: • A brief overview of EAP history.

Health promotion programs offer an opportunity to support the health of employees, their families, and the communities in which they reside. By integrating health promotion programs with a company's sustainability efforts, the occupational health nurse can directly impact the company's bottom line by ensuring the benefits from a healthy, safe, and fully productive employee who is able to remain in the workplace for some time. This article discusses a successful health promotion program developed and implemented by an occupational health nurse in support of a company's sustainability effort.

A series on basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) taught by an occupational health nurse to approximately 250 petroleum refinery employees became the impetus for a broader wellness seminar series. The CPR courses were held after hours. To encourage more attendance through the "buddy system," employees were urged to enroll their spouse or other family member or friend in the courses. The employee population consists of multicultural, professional, blue collar, and technical workers, ages 18 to 70. At the completion of the classes, several employees approached the occupational health nurse and her supervisor requesting a seminar series on health issues. This employee interest generated the idea for a wellness seminar series. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAM Health care costs have continued to escalate over the past decade, and much is written about ways to hold down health care costs (Warner, 1988). As the cost of health care increasingly shifts to business, health services rendered must show economic value added-"a way of